Norwood man sentenced to 22 years for heroin distribution

Thursday

Sep 13, 2018 at 11:06 AMSep 13, 2018 at 7:16 PM

BOSTON — A Norwood man was sentenced to 22 years in prison after he was convicted on federal drug charges.

Oristel Soto-Peguero, 25, was convicted by a federal jury Wednesday of possession with intent and conspiracy to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug offense. He is one of four people charged in connection with a federal sting at his Norwood apartment.

Prosecutors said federal agents had been investigating Eddyberto Mejia-Ramos, a regional heroin trafficker operating in Taunton, in 2015 when they identified Soto-Peguero as his main supplier. While wire tapping calls and watching Soto-Peguero's Norwood apartment, agents heard the two men talking about moving something "heavy," prosecutors said.

Investigators then saw another co-conspirator, Mercedes Cabral, leave the apartment. Officers stopped her and found 10 blocks of heroin in her purse, authorities said.

After seizing the heroin, prosecutors said officers returned to the apartment and announced themselves. No one inside the apartment answered and police were starting to force their way in when someone fired a gunshot through the front door, prosecutors said. Officers eventually got inside and arrested Soto-Peguero and Luis Guzman-Ortiz.

The next day, prosecutors said, officers searched the home and seized 2 additional kilograms of heroin, a loaded semiautomatic pistol, two hydraulic drug presses and other evidence indicating that the apartment was being used to prepare and package heroin. Gunshot residue testing and other evidence established that Soto-Peguero fired the shot through the door, prosecutors said.

Soto-Peguero was sentenced to 22 years and five years of supervised release. Mejia-Ramos was sentenced to seven years, and Cabral was sentenced to 22 months time served with three years of supervised release. Guzman-Ortiz was convicted by a federal jury in June 2018 and has not yet been sentenced.